A US government proposal that would prevent schools from implementing blanket bans on transgender students participating in sports matching their gender identity has triggered a furious backlash from both conservative poli-ticians and trans rights activists.
The Department of Education unveiled a proposal last Thursday which aims to provide clarity on the issue of transgender athletes competing in school and college sports across the United States.
The department said in its proposal that outright bans of transgender athletes would violate Title IX, the landmark civil rights law enacted 51 years ago that forbids discrimination of any kind on the basis of gender in schools or educational facilities that receive federal support.
At least 20 states have so far implemented bans on transgender students participating in sports consistent with their gender identity — bans that fall foul of the Department of Education’s new proposal.
“Such bans fail to account for differences among students across grade and education levels,” the Education De-partment said.
“They also fail to account for different levels of competition – including no-cut teams that let all students participate – and different types of sports.”
Yet while outright bans are outlawed under the proposal, educational institutions would however be granted discre-tion to bar trans students from competing if their participation was deemed to undermine fairness.
Under the proposal, a school might, for example, have difficulty keeping a transgender student from playing in an elementary school sports match meant to emphasize teamwork, but could potentially ban such athletes from com-petitive high school matches.
Trans people in sports has become a heated political issue in the United States, with religious conservatives especially fighting against their inclusion on girls’ teams.
The thorniness of the issue was underscored by the fact that the Biden administration’s attempt to find a middle ground brought condemnation from across the spectrum.
Some progressives and trans rights activists framed the move as a “betrayal” while conservative politicians vowed to fight its implementation.—APP
